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The government said Tuesday the estimated death toll from a predicted major earthquake directly beneath the Tokyo metropolitan area could be halved from 23,000 if authorities adopt a new 10-year ...8 hours ago

The labor ministry has decided to make it unlawful to demote, reassign or otherwise treat female employees unfavorably during a yearlong period following their return from child-care leave.12 hours ago

Three decades after seizing power in a military coup, Muhammadu Buhari became the first Nigerian to oust a president through the ballot box, putting him in charge of Africa’s biggest economy and one of ...

The Osaka Metropolitan Government is considering an ordinance that would compel people in the country’s second-largest city to stand on the left side of escalators and use the right when passing others. Residents of ...

Fumino Sugiyama will finally be able to marry his girlfriend of four years. He couldn’t before, because same-sex marriages weren’t recognized in Japan, and he is legally a woman. With a landmark vote Tuesday ...

An appealingly playful polar bear has become a major attraction at a zoo in Kushiro, Hokkaido, where onlookers delight in seeing the animal rear up on her hind legs. The 2-year-old bear, named Milk, ...

Sony Network Entertainment International LLC has linked up with major European online music provider Spotify Ltd. to launch a music-streaming service through its PlayStation network in 41 countries, the company said Monday. The list ...

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Education authorities in the city of Osaka have pledged to review how schools handle applications for places from special-needs children after hearing that a public elementary school tried to turn away a local child with Down syndrome. New Zealander Steve Sasaki-Samuels, 37, and his ...

Officers opened fire after two men dressed as women refused to stop Monday at the National Security Agency gate at Fort Meade and then smashed into a police vehicle blocking the road, officials said. One of the men died, and the other man and ...

Sharp Corp. said its energy solutions business will probably return to profit next fiscal year as it shifts to sales of solar panels and batteries to households in Japan. The maker of smartphone displays, televisions, appliances and solar cells will invest ¥1.4 billion by ...

Japan turned on the style to sweep Uzbekistan aside 5-1 on Tuesday night and give new manager Vahid Halilhodzic the perfect start with two wins out of two. Midfielder Toshihiro Aoyama blasted Japan into a sixth-minute lead with a long-range strike at Ajinomoto Stadium, ...

Tokyo’s fashion fans spent six days in the middle of this month looking at the city from the lofty viewpoint afforded by Shibuya’s Hikarie building, and yet for all the excitement that was generated over the coming fall/winter collections, the rest of the city ...

There’s kabuki, noh, butoh, bunraku, regular plays, glitzy musicals and Japan’s unique all-female Takarazuka musical theater troupe — but another home-grown performance-art genre has for some time been carving a niche in this country’s diverse entertainment world in the shape of so-called 2.5-D musicals. ...

The late Lee Kuan Yew used to insist that he had to maintain a tight political grip on Singapore. Today, however, there are rising doubts about the durability of the system he has bequeathed to his son.

Races for this year’s nationwide series of local elections kicked off with the start of official campaigns last week for gubernatorial elections in 10 prefectures on April 12 — the same day that local assembly seats in 41 prefectures and 22 major cities will ...

Evidence from the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals in 2000 demonstrates that setting global U.N. goals does help individuals, organizations and governments worldwide to focus on what really matters for our future.

The true secret of Lee Kuan Yew's political genius was not his skillful use of repressive practices, such as launching lawsuits against the media or his political opponents. Lee's revolutionary tack was to use democratic institutions and the rule of law to curb the ...